DEFENCE

Fusilier Gordon Gentle

John Reid: The Army's Board of Inquiry (BOI) into the death of Fusilier Gordon Gentle in Basra, Iraq, on 28 June 2004 has been presented to his family today. Fusilier Gentle, of C Company, 1st Battalion, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (1 RHF), was killed when the vehicle he was travelling in was attacked with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while he performed routine escort duty.
	All 12 recommendations made by the Board of Inquiry have been accepted, and the majority of improvements have already been implemented. The BOI found that:
	The training provided by 1 RHF, both prior to deployment and in theatre, was appropriate and sufficient for its tasks. In the opinion of the board, the Battalion should be commended for the quality of its training and conduct of operations;
	Fusilier Gentle's training was adequate to enable him to conduct his specific duties, and he had gained experience of his task as top cover sentry over the 4 weeks prior to the incident;
	Fusilier Gentle was wearing the appropriate body armour, which was penetrated by fragments from the IED. It was accepted that full protection from a close quarter explosion cannot realistically be provided by lightweight body armour; the BOI recommended, however, that body armour should be enhanced with extensions to protect the neck and armpit area. Body armour with these modifications has since been made available to British troops;
	Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) equipment was fitted and working correctly, but was ineffective against the device detonated. Additional ECM equipment was available but had not yet been fitted. The board recommended that where units were tasked with collecting equipment for issue, a series of triggers must be implemented to prompt the supply chain collected promptly. Significant modifications to the supply chain in theatre have since been instigated;
	There was no delay to the military medical response;
	The use of SNATCH land rovers was appropriate to the threat and task. Although it did not prevent the grievous injuries to Fusilier Gentle, it prevented significant further injury to other personnel in the vehicle. The vehicle was, however, penetrated in a number of places and investigations into increasing protection in certain areas should be carried out and options for greater protection for top cover sentries explored. The Ministry of Defence is currently addressing this with a project to upgrade the current SNATCH fleet;
	1 RHF implemented sensible measures to mitigate the predictability in timings and routes for the task in hand;
	The convoy task on the day of the incident was conducted correctly and the use of top cover sentries was appropriate;
	Communications provided to the patrol were sufficient.
	The loss of Fusilier Gentle is devastating for all who knew him, and I extend my deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues. The death of any member of the Armed Forces is a tragedy—the safety of our personnel is and must remain paramount and every possible precaution is taken to protect them.
	I have today placed a redacted version of the opinions, findings and recommendations of the Board of Inquiry in the Library of the House.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Gangmasters (Licensing)

Jim Knight: My noble Friend, Lord Bach, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State made the following written ministerial yesterday.
	"I am pleased to be able to inform the House that regulations have been laid today confirming scope of the new gangmaster licensing arrangements. Licensing will apply to gangmasters who supply labour to all parts of the farming and food processing industries. This will protect some 600,000 workers from exploitation and will protect the interests of legitimate labour providers struggling to compete against businesses operating illegally. With the completion of this element of the regulatory framework, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority can commence licensing operations on 6 April.
	The Gangmasters Licensing (Exclusions) Regulations 2006 fix the boundaries for the new licensing scheme by specifying circumstances in which a person, who is acting as a gangmaster, does not need a licence. These include the supply of labour to retail, catering, wholesale and distribution establishments, short term loans of workers between farmers, the supply of workers by agricultural contractors to operate machinery they provide, the supply of individual specialist farm workers. The supply of labour to process and pack non agricultural products including an agricultural component, such as cosmetics, is also excluded. Together these provisions will provide maximum protection of workers through robust licensing arrangements, whilst giving farmers the flexibility they need to manage the deployment of labour on a day to day basis.
	The introduction of licensing in relation to shellfish gathering is dealt with separately in the regulations. The very valuable work done by the Ethical Trading Initiative Temporary Labour Working Group to develop a voluntary code of practice, has helped ensure the early introduction of licensing for labour providers operating in the farming and fresh produce supply chain. However, more time is needed to finalise the licensing arrangements to apply to shellfish' gathering. This work is in hand. But it is important to ensure that the protections offered by the licensing scheme are extended to cover shellfish gathering at the earliest opportunity. For this reason the regulations make it clear that licensing will apply to the supply and use of labour to hand gather shellfish, from 1 October 2006.
	The Gangmasters (Appeals) Regulations 2006 establish an appeals procedure for gangmasters who are refused a licence or have their licence withdrawn. Appeals will be heard by an independent person appointed by the Secretary of State from the panel of employment tribunal chairmen. DEFRA staff will provide secretariat support for the appeals process. The regulations will ensure that appeals are dealt with justly and that the parties are placed on an equal footing.
	These regulations cover England, Scotland and Wales. Separate regulations will apply in Northern Ireland.
	The final element of the regulatory framework is the Gangmasters (Licensing Conditions) Rules 2006. These have been made by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. They set out the conditions attached to a licence and the fees to be charged. The rules must be read in conjunction with the Authority's Licensing Standards which are also being published today. In the first year, licence fees will range from £250 for the smallest businesses to £4,000 for the largest. Where a business has, in the opinion of the
	Authority, successfully addressed issues raised in a Temporary Labour Working Group audit, the fee for early applicants will be reduced by £250. Where a business has not been audited against the Temporary Labour Working Group code and an application inspection is necessary, an additional one off fee ranging from £1,600 to £2,500 will be charged.
	There are a number of further steps that need to be taken over the coming months to finalise the licensing arrangements. If the application process goes smoothly, we plan to make it an offence for a gangmaster to operate without a licence with effect from 1 October 2006. At the same time regulations will be made setting out the steps that a labour user will need to take to ensure a gangmaster he or she engages has a licence. It is anticipated that it will become an offence for a labour user to use an unlicensed gangmaster in December. We expect that the labour provider and labour user offences will be introduced in the shellfish gathering sector from April 2007.
	Together these regulations and rules will provide a high degree of protection for workers. They will also help protect the interests of law abiding labour providers and will help protect Exchequer interests by promoting employment of legitimate workers. These objectives have been achieved without placing unreasonable regulatory, administrative or economic burdens on the businesses involved. However, many of the businesses affected by the new licensing arrangements will be small businesses and we do need to ensure that the burdens on these businesses are proportionate to the risks involved. DEFRA will therefore conduct a post implementation review, a year after licensing comes into effect.
	We have come a long way since the House first considered the Gangmasters Licensing Bill in 2004. This Bill, which was introduced by the member for West Renfrewshire, enjoyed cross party support. The Bill also had the support of a strong coalition of stakeholders including the trade unions, farmers, supermarkets, the churches and a number of other organisations interested in the well being and welfare of gang workers. I am pleased to say this coalition is still active and that it played an important part in the recent debate on the scope of the exclusion regulations. Coalition members have sought to ensure that the gangmaster licensing arrangements are robust, credible and effective. The regulations tabled today deliver all these objectives".

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Jericho Monitoring Mission

Jack Straw: I would like to inform the House that the UK and the US withdrew our monitors from the Jericho Monitoring Mission on 14 March. As I made clear in my statement to the House on 29 April 2002, Official Report, column 668, it is the prime responsibility of the Palestinian Authority to ensure the personal security of the United States and United Kingdom monitors. Over the past months it has become increasingly clear that the Palestinian Authority is unable to do this.
	The UK and the US have repeatedly raised our concerns over the security of our monitors with the Palestinian Authority and urged them to meet their obligations under the Ramallah agreement. Unfortunately, there has been no improvement. We therefore issued a joint US/UK letter to President Abbas on 8 March 2006. This letter said that we would have to terminate our involvement with the mission if the Palestinian Authority did not immediately either fully comply with the Ramallah agreement (which sets out monitoring arrangements) and make substantive improvements to the security of the monitors or come to a new agreement with the Government of Israel. As required by the Ramallah agreement we informed the Israeli Authorities that we were delivering a letter in these terms. I have placed a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
	The Palestinian Authority has consistently failed to meet its obligations under the Ramallah agreement. Ultimately the safety of our personnel has to take precedence. It is with regret that I have to inform the House that these conditions have not been met and we have terminated our involvement with the mission today, 14 March 2006.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Public Enquiry Office)

Tony McNulty: On 3 January this year The Sun published allegations made by an ex-employee about working practices at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's (IND's) Public Enquiry Office (PEO) in Croydon. On 9 January I said that Tim Gbedemah, a non-executive director of IND, would lead a formal inquiry into these allegations, with the following terms of reference:
	"To investigate the allegations about practices within the Public Enquiry Office at Lunar House in Croydon, which Mr. Anthony Pamnani was reported to have made by The Sun newspaper on 3 January; to establish, as far as possible, their substance; and to make any recommendations for further action to the director general of IND, in the light of any findings".
	The report has now been completed and is available in full via the IND internet site at: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk. A copy has also been laid in the House of Commons Library.
	I am pleased to say that the investigation found no evidence to support The Sun's central allegation that there was a corruption "racket" in the Public Enquiry Office involving "sex for visas". Some isolated incidents of unprofessional behaviour have been identified and the report indicates there may be evidence of further misconduct by some members of staff. It also identified some failures to follow the correct procedures for carrying out security checks on certain applicants. We take these findings very seriously. We will now ensure that appropriate action is taken to address them, including where necessary taking disciplinary action.
	Importantly, the report also makes the point that its findings must be seen in context and acknowledges the significant improvements that have been made. In the period under examination the PEO decided around half a million cases. We are justifiably proud of the hard work and professionalism of the overwhelming majority of staff in the Public Enquiry Office and elsewhere.
	The director general of IND and I are very grateful for Mr. Gbedemah's work. We accept all of his recommendations and I am asking the director general to put together an action plan to take them forward. We are committed to improving continually and we will look at how we can positively apply the lessons learned across the whole of IND.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland Policing Board

Peter Hain: Yesterday I announced the membership of the reconstituted Northern Ireland Policing Board with effect from 1 April 2006. The cross-community board is one of the great successes flowing from the Patten recommendations. I would like to pay tribute to the current board members for the considerable contribution they have made to policing in Northern Ireland and the crucial role they have played in ensuring that the PSNI is effective, efficient and responsive to the needs of the community.
	The new membership of the board is as follows:
	Ian Paisley Jnr MLA, William Hay MLA, Arlene Foster MLA, Peter Weir MLA, Fred Cobain MLA, Danny Kennedy MLA, Alex Attwood MLA, Dolores Kelly MLA, Professor Sir Desmond Rea, Joe Byrne, Barry Gilligan, Pauline McCabe, Rosaleen Moore, Suneil Sharma, Dawn Purvis, Brian Rea MBE JP, Trevor Ringland, Brendan Duddy and Deirdre MacBride.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud Inspectorate

James Plaskitt: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) has today announced its phase 15 programme of work.
	The authorities that will be inspected are Ashfield district council, Carmarthenshire county council, Ealing London borough council, Gravesham borough council, Guildford borough council, Lewes district council, Mid Devon district council, Preston City Council, Solihull Metropolitan borough council, South Lanarkshire council and West Lothian council.
	The BFI is an independent unit within the Department for Work and Pensions that inspects and reports directly to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the standard of benefits administration and counter-fraud activity in local authorities and the Department itself.